Grand Valley State men lose to top-ranked Findlay

FINDLAY, Ohio -- It looked as if Grand Valley State was poised to pull of a monumental upset.

The Lakers led rival Findlay by three at halftime of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship game, giving the Oilers fits with their stellar defensive effort.

But the second half was a different story, and by the time there were 10 minutes left, the No. 1-ranked Oilers had the momentum and the lead en route to a 67-56 victory in front of a sold-out crowd at Croy Gymnasium on Saturday night.

Findlay (30-0) took control with a 24-5 run early in the second half as the Lakers unraveled under the pressure and intensity the Oilers played with as they avenged last season's 73-67 championship game loss to GVSU (21-9) at Allendale.

"Findlay has a great team and we have a lot of respect for them," GVSU coach Ric Wesley said. "But we came in here and battled and made a game of it. Unfortunately, they were the better team tonight."

Findlay features one of the most balanced offenses in the league but the Oilers struggled in the first half against the Lakers, who forced the Oilers to shoot 29 percent (9-of-31) from the field and 0-for-7 from beyond the arc.

"Give them credit," Findlay coach Ron Niekamp said. "They have a lot of athletic players, and when we couldn't make the easy shots in the first half, it became difficult to make shots in general."

But Grand Valley State's offense went cold in the second half, and its defense was unable to slow down the Oilers.

"They are a very dangerous team when they are making 3-pointers," Wesley said. "Our offense started struggling because their defense bothered us so much. We couldn't get shots to fall. That was our biggest problem."

Jerrett Smith and Pete Trammell scored 11 points apiece. GVSU has lost all three meetings to the Oilers this season and failed to win back-to-back GLIAC tournament titles.